Science / Environment / Energy – Market Business Newshttp://marketbusinessnews.com
The latest business news around the world. Written by Market Business News's very own editorial team to deliver reliable, up to date, and honest news.Thu, 24 May 2018 15:15:20 +0000en-GBhourly1http://marketbusinessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/cropped-Screen-Shot-2015-11-11-at-10.58.36-PM-32x32.pngScience / Environment / Energy – Market Business Newshttp://marketbusinessnews.com
323255684572Bitcoin network estimated to use as much energy as Irelandhttp://marketbusinessnews.com/bitcoin-energy-use/178215/
http://marketbusinessnews.com/bitcoin-energy-use/178215/#respondMon, 21 May 2018 05:02:23 +0000http://marketbusinessnews.com/?p=178215The bitcoin network is estimated to use almost as much electricity as the country of Ireland this year, according to research published in the journal Joule. The bitcoin network currently uses an estimated 2.55 gigawatts of electricity. The researcher behind the study, Alex de Vries, believes that this figure could potentially rise to as high […]]]>

The bitcoin network is estimated to use almost as much electricity as the country of Ireland this year, according to research published in the journal Joule.

The bitcoin network currently uses an estimated 2.55 gigawatts of electricity. The researcher behind the study, Alex de Vries, believes that this figure could potentially rise to as high as 7.67 gigawatts in the future.

“The primary fuel for each of these calculations is electricity. The Bitcoin network can be estimated to consume at least 2.55 gigawatts of electricity currently, and potentially 7.67 gigawatts in the future, making it comparable with countries such as Ireland (3.1 gigawatts) and Austria (8.2 gigawatts).”

The research is based on speculative figures as there is no definitive way of calculating every miners’ power usage. There are 10,000 connected nodes, but each of these can represent a single machine or multiple machines.

“A hashrate of 14 terahashes per second can either come from a single Antminer S9 running on just 1,372 watts, or more than half a million PlayStation 3 devices running on 40 megawatts,” de Vries said.

A cryptocurrency mining farm in Iceland. The picture shows mainly Zeus scrypt miners. By Marco Krohn (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsHowever, some experts believe that this research could be another example of overestimating the electricity use by computing.

Stanford lecturer Jonathan Koomey told NBC News that there are a few problems with the research’s underlying assumptions, namely that energy used in bitcoin mining and the price for that energy “are picked out of air”.

“For two decades, people have been eager to overestimate electricity use by computing,” Koomey told NBC. “My concern is that we simply don’t have adequate data to come to the strong conclusions that he’s coming to.”

“The worry is that those are two numbers that are picked out of the air,” Koomey added. “There may be some basis for them, but it’s a very unreliable way to do these kinds of calculations, and nobody who does this for a living would do it like that. It’s odd that someone would.”

]]>http://marketbusinessnews.com/bitcoin-energy-use/178215/feed/0178215Ring-wristband wearable tech reads ‘discreet’ hand poseshttp://marketbusinessnews.com/ring-wristband-wearable-tech-reads-discreet-hand-poses/178185/
http://marketbusinessnews.com/ring-wristband-wearable-tech-reads-discreet-hand-poses/178185/#respondSun, 20 May 2018 11:45:37 +0000http://marketbusinessnews.com/?p=178185A ring-wristband combination that reads hand poses could one day be used to control a device or write text discreetly while carrying on a conversation. The technology is called FingerPing and was developed at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta. The FingerPing ring-wristband recognizes 22 “fine-grained hand poses.” Image: Georgia Tech. A presentation […]]]>

A ring-wristband combination that reads hand poses could one day be used to control a device or write text discreetly while carrying on a conversation.

The technology is called FingerPing and was developed at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta.

A presentation and scientific paper about it featured recently at the 2018 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Montreal, Canada.

The “proof of concept” research establishes the feasibility of the technique, which can now be developed further.

Unobtrusive wearable

The ring-wristband system is different to other solutions in that it does not require an obtrusive wearable like a glove.

It has just a thumb ring and a wristband, which can be incorporated into a wristwatch.

The idea is to allow users to operate smart technology in an inconspicuous way with a few subtle hand movements.

These might be used, for example, to start or stop a music track, or to enter numbers and text into a T9 keyboard, such as that of a mobile phone.

Using ‘acoustic chirps’ to read hand poses, the ring-wristband could be programmed to allow the user to control technology in an unobtrusive way. Image: Georgia Tech.

“Some interaction is not socially appropriate,” says first author of the study paper Dr. Cheng Zhang, who is moving on from Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing to take up an assistant professorship in information science at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.

A user should be able to interact with their wearable “at any time in an appropriate and discreet fashion,” states Dr. Zhang.

“When we’re talking,” he adds, “I can still make some quick reply that doesn’t interrupt our interaction.”

‘Acoustic chirps’

The ring generates special sound waves known as “acoustic chirps” that travel inside the hand to receivers in the wristband.

The pattern of sound waves in the chirps can be altered by assuming small hand poses, such as tapping a finger-tip or making classic 1-2-3 gestures.

The receiver in the wristband “recognizes these tiny differences,” Dr. Zhang explains.

“The injected sound from the thumb,” he continues, “will travel at different paths inside the body with different hand postures. For instance, when your hand is open there is only one direct path from the thumb to the wrist.”

Device recognizes 22 hand poses

When a hand gesture closes a loop, the sound travels along a different path and creates a “unique signature.”

The current version of the ring-wristband can read 22 different “fine-grained hand poses.”

Dr. Zhang says that they are also developing the device to recognize American Sign Language. Such a system would be less cumbersome than other techniques that rely on cameras to read the gestures.

Video demonstration

The following video from ACM demonstrates the ring-wristband that was presented at the conference.

]]>http://marketbusinessnews.com/ring-wristband-wearable-tech-reads-discreet-hand-poses/178185/feed/0178185CO2 emissions rise in 2017 versus 2016 in EUhttp://marketbusinessnews.com/co2-emissions-rise/177905/
http://marketbusinessnews.com/co2-emissions-rise/177905/#respondSat, 12 May 2018 16:12:23 +0000http://marketbusinessnews.com/?p=177905CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion in the European Union rose by 1.8% in 2017 compared to 2016, says Eurostat. CO2 stands for carbon dioxide. Eurostat provides statistical information to the institutions of the European Union (EU). Carbon dioxide accounts for approximately eighty percent of all EU greenhouse gas emissions. It is a significant contributor to […]]]>

CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion in the European Union rose by 1.8% in 2017 compared to 2016, says Eurostat. CO2 stands for carbon dioxide. Eurostat provides statistical information to the institutions of the European Union (EU).

Carbon dioxide accounts for approximately eighty percent of all EU greenhouse gas emissions. It is a significant contributor to global warming.

The imports and exports of energy products also have an impact on carbon dioxide emissions. Particularly in the country that burns fossil fuels.

For example, importing of coal leads to a rise in emissions. Electricity imports, on the other hand, do not directly affect emissions in the importing nation. The country that exports electricity, on the other hand, does report CO2 emissions.

These figures do not include CO2 emissions resulting from the combustion of non-renewable waste. (Data Source: Eurostat)

CO2 emissions – by country

Malta and Estonia registered the highest increase in carbon dioxide emissions, while Finland and Denmark reported the lowest.

Eurostat reports that, according to its estimates, CO2 emission rose in most EU Member States.

We are now one step closer to a fully implantable hearing aid, say scientists at Karl Landsteiner University of Health Science, Austria. Researchers performed the first-ever successful test on the implantable hearing aid, i.e., one that operates inside the human body.

The technology uses completely contact-free fiber-optic technology. The technology senses minuscule ossicle movements, i.e., tiny movements of a bone in the middle ear. It then uses those movements to stimulate the acoustic nerves.

According to the Austrian-Serbian team, the tests produced important findings on how to use the technology on human beings.

Hearing aids should help people hear. However, nobody should be able to see them. This is precisely what the fully surgical implantable heading device offers, i.e., discrete hearing.

According to Elsevier.com: “To create an implantable hearing aid, the team devised a non-contact fiber-optic interferometric sensor, to serve as a microphone implanted inside the middle-ear.”

Hearing aid has microphones

The hearing aid has microphones which receive sounds. They then use a sophisticated process to transform the sounds into impulses for the acoustic nerves.

It is vital that a hearing aid works error-free inside the human body for several years. Unfortunately, it is only possible today to a very limited extent. Hence, there is currently a race to find new solutions.

Fiber-optic measuring technology – the solution

The Serbian-Austrian scientists believe that the use of fiber-optic measuring technology might be the solution. The technology in this hearing aid picks up vibrations from the ossicles.

The scientists wrote about their tests and research in the journal Biosens Bioelectron (citation below).

The quest for a fully-implantable hearing aid

Research team member, Prof. Georg Mathias Sprinzl, said:

“”Even state-of-the-art hearing aids often require parts outside the ear. This has many disadvantages for people who wear hearing aids: they can be stigmatised if the device is visible, parts of the ear often become inflamed and the wearer’s own voice can sound distorted.”

“Fully implantable hearing aids can overcome these problems – but the technology still needs to be fine-tuned. And that’s what we are working on.”

Further research required

In principle, this new hearing aid could operate inside the ear. It is also durable, i.e., it can operate for long periods.

The team says that measurements so far have showed that the system can distinguish between important sounds and background noise. They also said that they still need to improve this technology.

Although the test was successful, the scientists need to work on redesigning and miniaturizing the entire system. They also need to decrease the overall power consumption of the hearing aid, they added.

]]>http://marketbusinessnews.com/fully-implantable-hearing-aid-one-step-closer/177896/feed/0177896New photoelectrode could ease production of hydrogen fuel from water and sunlighthttp://marketbusinessnews.com/new-photoelectrode-could-ease-production-of-hydrogen-fuel-from-water-and-sunlight/177704/
http://marketbusinessnews.com/new-photoelectrode-could-ease-production-of-hydrogen-fuel-from-water-and-sunlight/177704/#respondFri, 04 May 2018 18:02:28 +0000http://marketbusinessnews.com/?p=177704Researchers have developed a new photoelectrode that could help to make the dream of producing cheap hydrogen fuel from sunlight and water into reality. Although still at the experimental stage, the “revolutionary” device could be mass-produced inexpensively, say the researchers that developed it at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. Like photosynthesis in […]]]>

Researchers have developed a new photoelectrode that could help to make the dream of producing cheap hydrogen fuel from sunlight and water into reality.

Although still at the experimental stage, the “revolutionary” device could be mass-produced inexpensively, say the researchers that developed it at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.

Like photosynthesis in plants, the new photoelectrode captures and stores solar energy in chemical bonds except that the bonds are in molecules of hydrogen and not plant sugars. Image: pixabay-1552088

They describe their pioneering work in in a paper that was recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Hydrogen is everywhere

Hydrogen is attracting renewed attention because it is a clean fuel; when you “burn” it in a fuel cell using oxygen from the air, it produces no carbon emissions.

However, although it is present in abundance on our planet, hydrogen is almost always married tightly to at least one other element. To make hydrogen fuel you have to separate it from its partner element(s).

The most common natural compound containing hydrogen is water (H2O), in which two hydrogens (H) are bound to one oxygen(O).

One of the barriers to achieving a hydrogen fuel economy is the prohibitive cost of separating hydrogen on a commercial scale.

Photoelectrochemical water splitting

Photoelectrochemical (PEC), the technology behind the new photoelectrode, is very much at the development stage as a way to make hydrogen from water.

Using PEC water splitting to make hydrogen “has long been considered as the Holy Grail to a carbon-free hydrogen economy,” note the researchers.

PEC systems contain special semiconductors that allow them to use energy from the sun rather like plants harness solar energy using photosynthesis.

The first step of the process, which is called photoelectrolysis, occurs when the photoelectrode converts the sunlight that falls on it into electricity.

In the next step, the electricity splits water molecules into molecules of hydrogen and oxygen.

Solar fuel

The oxygen can be released harmlessly into the air and the hydrogen can be stored for later use.

The process is often referred to as a “solar fuel” technology because it locks solar energy in the hydrogen bonds.

A big attraction is that unlike solar panels, where you have to either use the electricity as soon as it is produced or store it in a battery, is that you get a storable fuel straight away.

PEC development is still in its infancy, and developers are looking for ways not only to bring down the cost but also to increase the efficiency so that the energy produced far exceeds the energy consumed to make it worth doing.

New photoelectrode is stable and cheap

A key challenge that the University of Exeter team believes it has overcome with its new photoelectrode is that it is stable and cheap and meets “the thermodynamic and kinetic criteria for photoelectrolysis.”

In their study paper, they describe how they made the photoelectrode out of “nanostructured” lanthanum iron oxide (LaFeO3) and then tested its ability to “spontaneously produce hydrogen from water using sunlight.”

They conclude that their results show that their “low cost” LaFeO3 photoelectrode is a “strong future candidate for renewable hydrogen generation.”

“Hydrogen is a promising alternative fuel source capable of replacing fossil fuels,” says the paper’s lead author Govinder Pawar, a postgraduate researcher at Exeter University’s Environment and Sustainability Institute, “as it has a higher energy density than fossil fuels (more than double), zero carbon emissions, and the only by-product is water.”

]]>http://marketbusinessnews.com/new-photoelectrode-could-ease-production-of-hydrogen-fuel-from-water-and-sunlight/177704/feed/0177704Global solar investment pushes ahead of fossil fuelshttp://marketbusinessnews.com/global-solar-investment-pushes-ahead-of-fossil-fuels/177600/
http://marketbusinessnews.com/global-solar-investment-pushes-ahead-of-fossil-fuels/177600/#respondTue, 01 May 2018 17:52:23 +0000http://marketbusinessnews.com/?p=177600In 2017, the world invested in solar like never before, according to a new global trends report. Driven largely by China, global solar investment was $160.8 billion, up 18 percent on the year before. More than half of last year’s solar investment came from China. Image: pixabay-2742305 Harnessing energy from the sun to make electricity accounted […]]]>

In 2017, the world invested in solar like never before, according to a new global trends report.

Driven largely by China, global solar investment was $160.8 billion, up 18 percent on the year before. More than half of last year’s solar investment came from China. Image: pixabay-2742305

Harnessing energy from the sun to make electricity accounted for more than half (57 percent) of the $279.8 billion that was invested in renewables in 2017 and far outstripped the $103 billion invested in coal and gas generation.

More generating capacity

According to the recently released Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2018 report, the world also installed more new generation capacity from solar in 2017 than any other renewable, or the net additions from fossil fuels and nuclear. Net addition is the difference between new and decommissioned capacity.

A record high of 157 gigawatts of generation capacity from renewables came on stream in 2017. Of this, more than a third (38 percent) was due to new solar capacity, which also hit a record high of 98 gigawatts.

The report, which was produced by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, defines investment in renewables as investing in projects that make electricity from solar, wind, biofuels, biomass, waste, geothermal, hydropower (up to 500 MW), and marine (that is, wave and tidal).

It drew most of its data from the online Bloomberg New Energy Finance database, which contains worldwide information on projects, investors, and deals relating to clean energy.

‘Global renewable energy revolution’

As a result of $2.7 trillion in global investments during 2007-2017, the proportion of the world’s electricity generated by renewables has risen from 5.2 to a significant 12.1 percent.

“We are in the middle of a global renewable energy revolution,” says the report.

The renewable energy market is pushing ahead at a “remarkable” rate. 2017 is the eighth successive year in which global investment in renewables has topped $200 billion.

While falling costs of solar electricity, and to some extent, wind as well, are likely the main reasons for this sustained level of investment, the main driver of solar investment last year was China.

China accounted for more than half of global solar investment ($86.5 billion) and installed solar capacity (53 gigawatts) in 2017.

“The extraordinary surge in solar investment,” says Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UNEP, “shows how the global energy map is changing and, more importantly, what the economic benefits are of such a shift.”

More jobs, less pollution

Invest in renewables increases employment, not only of total jobs, but also of higher quality, better paid jobs.

The amount of global electricity that is now produced by renewables has had a big effect on cutting emissions.

The report estimates that it has prevented around 1.8 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, which is about the same as that generated by the whole of the transport system in the U.S.

In addition to solar investment, China also made huge investments in other renewables in 2017. Overall, it was the biggest investor, and put in a record $126.6 billion, which is 31 percent more than the year before.

Australia, Mexico, and Sweden also vastly increased their investment in renewables in 2017.

Some slumps in investment

However, 2017 saw a slump in investment in some of the large markets for renewables. For example, in the United States it fell by 6 percent, while in Europe it fell by 36 percent and in Japan by 28 percent.

The report puts some of this down to timing of projects, whose financial timescales do not necessarily fall neatly into yearly parcels.

]]>http://marketbusinessnews.com/global-solar-investment-pushes-ahead-of-fossil-fuels/177600/feed/0177600Wood growth model advances genetic engineering of trees for paper, biofuelshttp://marketbusinessnews.com/wood-growth-model-advances-genetic-engineering-of-trees-for-paper-biofuels/177503/
http://marketbusinessnews.com/wood-growth-model-advances-genetic-engineering-of-trees-for-paper-biofuels/177503/#respondThu, 26 Apr 2018 19:23:12 +0000http://marketbusinessnews.com/?p=177503A wood growth model promises to advance genetic engineering of trees for timber, paper, pulp, biofuels, and environmentally friendly products. The idea is to simulate the effects of gene-tweaking on the biology of wood without having to create and then wait for live specimens to grow and be analyzed. The wood growth model allows scientists […]]]>

The idea is to simulate the effects of gene-tweaking on the biology of wood without having to create and then wait for live specimens to grow and be analyzed.

The wood growth model allows scientists to manipulate up to 21 genes that control the properties of lignin, a major component of wood. Image: pixabay-3342013

Professor Vincent Chiang of the Forest Biotechnology Group at North Carolina State, and colleagues describe their “biosynthesis model” in a paper that was published recently in the journal Nature Communications.

Manipulates up to 21 genes

The current prototype, or “base model,” allows scientists to observe what happens to wood growth when they manipulate up to 21 genes that control the properties of lignin, a major component of wood.

Prof. Chiang, who is an expert on cell wall biochemistry and using gene sequencing data to understand wood growth, has spent more than 30 years working on the underlying research.

Since development of the model itself started back in 2008, dozens of engineers, geneticists, mathematicians, and chemists have contributed to it.

Much of the painstaking effort involved growing thousands of genetically altered specimens of the black cottonwood tree, Populus trichocarpa, the first tree to have its genome published.

The researchers grew the specimens so that they could note the biochemical and physical results of each genetic manipulation and feed them into the model.

Dealing with lignin

Lignin is a tough, natural polymer that forms the woody component of cell walls of nearly all land-based plants.

It strengthens and supports the plant and the internal vessels that carry fluids between the leaves and the roots.

Lignin and cellulose are the most abundant polymers in living things. Their role in plants has been likened to the partnership between glass fibre and epoxy resin in boat structures: fibres of cellulose bear the load and the lignin matrix provides rigidity and strength.

It is because they contain more than 20 percent lignin that trees can grow very tall before they bend under their own weight. In contrast, grasses, being only 20 percent lignin, do not get very tall before they start to bend.

However, it is because lignin is rigid and strong that it has to be removed when wood is made into paper, pulp, and biofuels.

At present, the process of lignin removal is lengthy, costly, and not good for the environment because it uses harsh chemicals and high heat.

Applications of the wood growth model

One way to deal with the lignin problem is to alter its genetic makeup so that the wood grows to suit the end product.

The new wood growth model is an important tool in this approach, as it tracks 25 gene-driven properties of wood that are of interest to industry users.

For instance, engineers interested in getting trees to grow wood for pulp or biofuels, would be keen to get their hands on genes that alter the cellulose to lignin ratio, as this is a “direct indicator of the potential maximum cellulosic yield for wood pulp and maximum sugar yield for biofuels and other bioproducts.”

Others might wish to focus on altering genes to make the lignin in the wood easier to break down.

The researchers are already looking at other ways to use the model, such as to engineer trees that work with bacteria to make it easier to convert the wood into biofuels and biochemicals.

Another avenue of research is the engineering of trees for making nanocellulose to replace plastic and other materials made from petroleum.

Advancements and fine tuning

When the wood growth model is complete, scientists should be able to predict the effects of gene alterations on large complexes of biological processes, either across the entire organism, or along an entire pathway.

The next step for the researchers will be to incorporate more advanced levels of genetic fine-tuning into the model.

For this they will have to engineer trees using the advanced features, then grow masses of live specimens to see if the predicted, specific wood properties develop or not. The results can then be used to confirm or correct the model.

“We now have a long-awaited base model,” explains Prof. Chiang, “where new higher level regulatory factors […] and others important to growth and adaptation, can be incorporated to continuously improve the predictability and extend the application.”

]]>http://marketbusinessnews.com/wood-growth-model-advances-genetic-engineering-of-trees-for-paper-biofuels/177503/feed/0177503Male hummingbirds use their tail feathers to singhttp://marketbusinessnews.com/male-hummingbirds/177065/
http://marketbusinessnews.com/male-hummingbirds/177065/#respondSat, 14 Apr 2018 16:49:52 +0000http://marketbusinessnews.com/?p=177065Male hummingbirds do high-speed dives and use their tail feathers to sing to their females during the breeding season. For the Costa’s hummingbird, it is not the size that matters, but rather the sound. Most hummingbirds perform their dives in front of females. Male Costa’s hummingbirds, however, dive to the side of their suitors, say […]]]>

Male hummingbirds do high-speed dives and use their tail feathers to sing to their females during the breeding season. For the Costa’s hummingbird, it is not the size that matters, but rather the sound.

Mistick is a former research assistant at the Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside.

Male Costa’s hummingbirds use a high-speed dive in which they sing to their females with their tail feathers. (Credit: Credit: Mark Chappell. Image: ucrtoday.ucr.edu)

Hummingbirds twist their tails

The authors showed that the male aims its sound toward the female by twisting its tail. It twists its tail up by ninety degrees.

Prof. Clark had shown in previous research that the hummingbird’s tail song is made by its feathers. Specifically, the flutter of its outer tail feathers.

Prof. Clark explained:

“We don’t know why males twist only half of their tails toward the females, but it may be due to anatomical limitations that prevent them from twisting their whole tail around.”

The authors recorded Costa’s dives using an acoustic camera. They also carried out experiments in a wind tunnel. In the tunnel, they wanted to determine how the hummingbirds’ direction and speed influenced their sounds.

However, they found it hard to measure dive speed from the sound the birds produced.

This image from an acoustic camera shows how Costa’s hummingbirds dive to the side of a female. This minimizes audible Doppler sound. Color represents sound volume (Credit: Christopher Clark. Image Source: ucrtoday.ucr.edu)

Prof. Clark said:

“Once I realized it wasn’t trivial for a scientist to measure, I realized it wouldn’t be trivial for a female to measure either.”

Dynamic displays are important

The authors said that their findings add to the literature about how the males of species use athletic displays to attract mates.

Prof. Clark added:

“Most research has focused on static male attributes, such as bright colors or elongated tails, but our research shows that dynamic displays may be just as important, and males strategically control these performances to show themselves in the best possible light.”

In a Summary preceding the main article in the journal, the authors wrote:

“High-speed video of dives reveal that males twist half of their tail vertically during the dive, which acoustic-camera video shows effectively aims this sound sideways, toward the female.”/p>

” Our results demonstrate that male animals can strategically modulate female perception of dynamic aspects of athletic motor displays, such as their speed.”

Costa’s hummingbirds are fairly common in the Southwestern United States and Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula.

Video – How hummingbirds impress females

This University of California, Riverside video explains how Costa’s hummingbirds attract their females.

]]>http://marketbusinessnews.com/male-hummingbirds/177065/feed/0177065BP to pilot Tesla battery storage at South Dakota wind farmhttp://marketbusinessnews.com/bp-to-pilot-tesla-battery-storage-at-south-dakota-wind-farm/177011/
http://marketbusinessnews.com/bp-to-pilot-tesla-battery-storage-at-south-dakota-wind-farm/177011/#respondThu, 12 Apr 2018 18:40:07 +0000http://marketbusinessnews.com/?p=177011BP are launching a battery storage program at their existing Titan 1 wind farm in South Dakota in the United States with help from Tesla. The pilot program is the oil and gas giant’s first venture into battery storage in its U.S. wind farm business. The purpose of the pilot battery storage program at the […]]]>

BP are launching a battery storage program at their existing Titan 1 wind farm in South Dakota in the United States with help from Tesla.

The pilot program is the oil and gas giant’s first venture into battery storage in its U.S. wind farm business.

The purpose of the pilot battery storage program at the Titan 1 wind farm in South Dakota is to improve efficiency. Image: BP

BP have agreed to purchase a 212kW/840kWh Tesla battery to meet the wind farm’s internal electricity needs for when there is no wind.

The battery will store electricity when the turbines are turning and generating power and make it available whenever there is a need.

Step forward

BP see the battery storage program as a “potential step forward in the performance and reliability of wind energy.”

The Titan 1 wind farm, which occupies 7,500 acres in Hand County, SD, is wholly owned and operated by BP Wind Energy.

It is not large in comparison with other wind farms in the U.S. It has 10 turbines and generates 25MW, which is enough electricity to power around 6,700 average homes.

BP want to use the pilot program to learn how to use energy storage more effectively and help them move toward a low-carbon future.

The company is involved – as owners, partners, and/or operators – in several other wind farms in the U.S.

The largest wind energy installation that BP operate in the U.S. consists of three wind farms – Fowler Ridge 1, 2, and 3 – in Benton County, IN.

Altogether, the Fowler Ridge farms span more than 42,000 acres, have a total of 355 wind turbines and generate 600 MW of electricity.

Part of broader low-carbon plan

BP expect to switch on the Tesla battery at Titan 1 between July-December 2018. Once operation starts, BP engineers will be using lesson learned to inform future battery development programs.

The battery storage project is part of BP’s 0.5$bn annual investment in low-carbon technology which spans five areas: low-carbon and bio products; carbon management; power and storage; advanced mobility; and digital.

Renewable are the fastest-growing energy sector and BP anticipate it growing from today’s 4 percent of global demand to more than 10 percent by 2035.

“As a global energy business,” says Dev Sanyal, who is BP chief executive of alternative energy, “BP is committed to addressing the dual challenge of meeting society’s need for more energy, while at the same time working to reduce carbon emissions.”

Nevertheless, the energy giant still expects oil and natural gas to remain the mainstay of their business for several decades.

“Despite the attraction of renewables,” group chief executive of BP Bob Dudley told a conference last year, “the world can’t run on them alone and won’t be able to for some time.”

]]>http://marketbusinessnews.com/bp-to-pilot-tesla-battery-storage-at-south-dakota-wind-farm/177011/feed/0177011Portugal’s renewables exceeded electricity demand in Marchhttp://marketbusinessnews.com/portugals-renewables-exceeded-electricity-demand-in-march/176721/
http://marketbusinessnews.com/portugals-renewables-exceeded-electricity-demand-in-march/176721/#respondSat, 07 Apr 2018 10:29:29 +0000http://marketbusinessnews.com/?p=176721Last month, electricity produced by mainland Portugal’s renewables exceeded demand, according to figures released by the country’s transmission system operator, Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN). The figures for mainland Portugal show that in March 2018, electricity from renewable sources amounted to 4,812 GWh, accounting for 103.6 percent of consumption, which totalled 4,647 GWh. These amounts exclude […]]]>

Last month, electricity produced by mainland Portugal’s renewables exceeded demand, according to figures released by the country’s transmission system operator, Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN).

The figures for mainland Portugal show that in March 2018, electricity from renewable sources amounted to 4,812 GWh, accounting for 103.6 percent of consumption, which totalled 4,647 GWh.

These amounts exclude electricity production and consumption for the islands of the Azores and Madeira.

In March 2018, mainland Portugal produced more electricity from renewables, such as hydro and wind power, than it consumed. Image: REN

The announcement was made recently by the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association (APREN), whose associates represent more than 90 percent of Portugal’s installed renewable energy capacity.

Hydro and wind accounted for 97 percent

Mainland Portugal’s renewables comprise mainly two sources: hydropower and wind power. Last month, these two sources accounted for 55 percent and 42 percent of the total electricity produced from renewables.

APREN explain that while the total amount of electricity produced from mainland Portugal’s renewables was more than that consumed in the month, there were some periods during which it was necessary to fill some gaps with electricity sourced from fossil fuels or imports.

However, these periods were “fully compensated by others of greater renewable production,” they note.

Day-to-day figures reveal that the share of consumption met by mainland Portugal’s renewables fell to a minimum of 86 percent on March 7, and were at a maximum of 143 percent on March 11.

In addition, there were two periods – each lasting nearly 3 days – during which consumption “was fully assured” by renewable energy sources.

One period, that started on March 9 lasted 70 hours, and the other, lasting 69 hours, started on March 12.

EU emission allowance saving of 21 million euros

The ETS is the world’s largest carbon market. It which works on the principle of “cap and trade” and operates in all 28 EU countries, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

The system limits greenhouse gas emissions from more than 11,000 power stations and industrial plants in the 31 countries, and also from airlines that operate between them.

The greenhouse gas emissions from these sources account for some 45 percent of the EU total. The idea is that total emissions in the system come down over time as the cap is gradually reduced.

Each year, the energy companies in the system must “surrender” enough emissions allowances to cover their total emissions. If they do not, they have to pay big fines.

The effect of March’s production of electricity from mainland Portugal’s renewables meant that the country avoided producing emissions amounting to 1.8 million tons of CO2.

Avoiding this amount of emissions translates to a saving of 21 million euros in emission allowance.

Reduction in energy price

The impact of March’s high share of renewables also brought down the market’s average daily wholesale price to 39.75 euros per MWh.

This is a 9.5 percent reduction on the 43.94 euros per MWh price for the same period last year, when renewables accounted for only 62 percent of consumption.

“Last month’s achievement,” APREN predict, “is an example of what will happen more frequently in a near future.”

They anticipate that, by 2040, electricity from renewables will “guarantee, in a cost-effective way,” the total annual consumption of for mainland Portugal, with occasional use of natural gas power plants.